From University Lecturer to Chief Academician

Space Administration, anti-gravity spacecraft research and development center.

As one of the top five executives of the space agency, the de facto leader in technology research and development, and the person in charge of the anti-gravity spacecraft project, Chen Jiahe is also worrying about the development of anti-gravity spacecraft.

The research and development of anti-gravity spacecraft has been advancing in an orderly manner. Various equipment components and electronic systems are constantly being inspected, debugged, and modified. Everyone in the research center is very enthusiastic about work.

However, the speed of work is still unsatisfactory.

In fact, their work overall seems to be quite simple, because all technologies are mature, including lateral anti-gravity technology, superconducting battery technology, Hall thrusters, etc.

Their job is to integrate various technologies together.

Even just for integration, there's a lot of work that needs to be done, for example, exterior coating material research.

Anti-gravity spacecraft are spacecrafts used in space, and they must keep up with the progress of technological development.

The research team hopes to use first-order materials to create a new coating with better radiation protection and anti-radar technology. It needs to study the layer of first-order materials and add special brown gold materials.

Another example is the Hall thruster.

Hall thrusters are not a new technology. They have several manufacturing plans for Hall thrusters. However, if they want to integrate Hall thrusters into an anti-gravity spacecraft, the manufacturing plans need to be modified and the manufacturing has to be done again. debug.

Also, electronic systems.

The electronic system contains too much content. It is the most important soft technology of the anti-gravity spacecraft, which can allow each part to achieve maximum efficiency and ensure the stability of the spacecraft's performance.

The improvement of electronic systems will be a long-term task.

The current research is hoping to create a basic prototype of an anti-gravity spacecraft. Only with a basic prototype can we design and manufacture spacecraft with various functions.

The research team also knows that it will cooperate with the Spacecraft Industry Company in the future. The anti-gravity spacecraft they manufacture will definitely be loaded onto the aerospace carrier. The relationship between the two is like that of an aircraft carrier, a fighter jet, or a helicopter. The difference is that the aerospace carrier itself is powerful. The functions required are 'fighters and helicopters', and their purpose is just to complete some work tasks.

In the past year, Chen Jiahe devoted most of his energy to the research of anti-gravity spacecraft.

After being promoted to be the person in charge of anti-gravity spacecraft research and truly becoming a senior figure in the space agency, Chen Jiahe also hoped that he could do a career instead of just living in his position.

He hopes to follow the development of the times and lead the space agency to achieve certain development. The first is to enable the space agency to keep up with the "train" of the Spacecraft Industrial Company and achieve a certain degree of independent income generation in the space field, instead of relying on the state for all operations. Appropriations are maintained.

This would be a very big improvement.

Therefore, the anti-gravity research team led by Chen Jiahe formulated many follow-up plans early on.

For example, anti-gravity spacecraft are used as the basis to create transport ships, transport ships, manned landing ships, space debris cleaning ships, and even small meteorite towing ships. We are also considering cooperating with the military to create small-sized vehicles with the function of single-shot space weapons. Battleship.

etc.

A small combat spacecraft will be a spacecraft like a fighter jet. The spacecraft will be miniaturized, making it very flexible and capable of carrying some kind of single-shot space weapon.

If it can be made larger, it means exchanging flexibility for weapon power. It can achieve multiple space weapons, and it can also have the ability to hang bombs, so that it can launch missiles in space to attack the ground.

The difficulty is very high, but with the space carrier as the main body, it is still possible.

Of course, the foundation of everything is to build an anti-gravity spacecraft.

The prototype produced by the research team has not yet been assembled, and they are testing various parts. Many parts have various small problems, but in fact they can all be overcome. The biggest problem still comes from the whole.

That is the conflict between the Hall thruster and the spacecraft cooling system.

This contradiction made the research team very helpless.

In fact, it is normal for research to encounter problems. If there is no light pressure engine research team for comparison, Chen Jiahe thinks that he will not be worried at all. A research lasts only a few years and is aimed at anti-gravity spacecraft. Even if Each technology has a certain foundation, and it would be great to be able to produce it within five years.

Regarding the world's space technology, the production of anti-gravity spacecraft can definitely be described as "way ahead".

Unfortunately, the contrast exists.

The light pressure engine is a larger research project. It can even be said to be ten or dozens of times larger. It uses brand-new technology. There is no reference equipment, experiments, or data. It is completely developed based on new technology. Everything from basic theory to manufacturing is new.

For such a large-scale research project, the first prototype produced has already been tested in space.

In the test that just passed, the flight altitude exceeded 80 kilometers, which is very close to the space of 100 kilometers.

In contrast, even the first prototype of the anti-gravity spacecraft has not been assembled.

The progress gap between the two sides is too big.

The problem is that the research on anti-gravity spacecraft is much easier. To put it bluntly, it is just replacing the airship series flying saucers with Hall thrusters. From a technical perspective, there are no difficulties that cannot be overcome.

Whenever he thought of this, Chen Jiahe couldn't help but rub his forehead hard, "The gap is really huge, and their progress is too fast. They are worthy of being Academician Wang!"

"Alas~~~"

"How did they do it? It's so complicated, and it even has gravitational field technology. No wonder Teacher Zhu is always dissatisfied."

"too difficult!"

Chen Jiahe feels that research is like running a marathon. If he runs easily by himself, he will always reach the finish line no matter how long it takes.

As a result, a world champion opponent appeared, which made people feel very helpless and even helpless at all.

In the end there was only a long sigh.

soon.

Chen Jiahe's feeling turned into nervousness because he learned that Wang Hao was coming to visit the anti-gravity spacecraft research and development base.

It is said to be a visit, but actually it is an inspection.

The Spacecraft Industry Company may become the "major customer" of the space agency, and the two parties will sign a series of spacecraft contracts in the future, so that the space agency can sell many types of spacecraft to achieve independent income generation.

Now it feels like a big customer comes to see the product, but they haven't even manufactured the product, it's just scattered parts.

However, there is no way.

Chen Jiahe could only wait at the entrance of the base with others.

Wang Hao came to the anti-gravity spacecraft research and development base to inspect the anti-gravity spacecraft very seriously. He came to see the progress of the spacecraft research and to urge the development of the spacecraft. After all, the aerospace carrier must carry small spacecraft.

If it takes several years, or even more than ten years, to deliver a small spacecraft, they will have to consider developing it themselves.

This time cannot wait.

Wang Hao not only came by himself, he also brought Zhu Qiqiang, Zang Chunlai, and of course Zhou Changyuan, the representative of the Space Administration. There were more than a dozen people in the entire inspection team, and each of them was a heavyweight.

Chen Jiahe, Jia Shumin, and Duan Jiachong stood together. The latter two were the deputy chief designers of the anti-gravity spacecraft, and the second and third figures in the research team.

Jia Shumin and Duan Jiachong have higher qualifications than Chen Jiahe.

With the realization of the 'lunar landing plan' and their contribution to the aerospace field, they were not only elected as academicians of the Academy of Sciences, but also received heavyweight contribution awards in the auditorium. Of course, they are not too young, and Jia Shumin is relatively young. Already 58 years old, Duan Jiachong is simply 64 years old.

At this retirement age, Jia Shumin and Duan Jiachong are still very motivated to participate in the research and development of anti-gravity spacecraft.

Several people waited at the door for the inspection group.

They took Wang Hao and his party to visit the base and entered various laboratories and assembly rooms to introduce the design and research of anti-gravity spacecraft in detail.

Chen Jiahe certainly had good things to say about the research, "Our next step is to prepare the first prototype."

"There are still a few issues to deal with, but we believe there are no issues..."

"Every technology is very mature, we also have better materials, and we have designed a more suitable Hall propulsion method..."

"Ula Ula~~"

Chen Jiahe talked a lot in succession, all of which were worthy of praise in the research. Wang Hao listened expressionlessly and just asked, "When will the first prototype be built? When can it be tested in space?" "

"..."

Chen Jiahe pursed his lips and said nothing.

When he felt the awkward atmosphere around him, the senior academician Duan Jiachong said, "Academician Wang, research should be done bit by bit and don't be anxious. It is easy to make mistakes if you are anxious. Work in the aerospace field must ensure that there are no problems as much as possible."

"Every problem in the aerospace field will be a major accident and cause great losses, so we must be more rigorous."

"..."

This time it was Wang Hao's turn to be silent.

Facing an old academician in his 60s, he couldn't scold him directly like he would a young man. After all, he had made great contributions to the aerospace industry and was actively involved in the research of anti-gravity spacecraft.

He pursed his lips, simply ignored Academician Duan, and asked Chen Jiahe, "Let's take a look at your design? What problems did the research encounter?"

Chen Jiahe quickly asked someone to bring the design drawings.

The design drawings are still very complicated. A large number of drawings are put together, which is dazzling. Each part has dozens or even hundreds of drawings.

Wang Hao browsed through it roughly and listened to Chen Jiahe's introduction. "Actually, the biggest problem is the conflict between the Hall thruster and the cooling system."

"A lot of energy has been put into this aspect, and a series of modifications have been made, but none of them are very satisfactory."

Chen Jiahe said, "Academician Wang, you should have seen half of the assembly room just now revolving around this problem. The spacecraft needs to carry coolant and propellant. It must leave enough space, otherwise it will crowd out the space of other parts. .”

"Our initial design was similar to an airship flying saucer. Later, we found that the space was completely insufficient, so we had to expand the size of the spacecraft."

"However, there are still problems with the design."

Wang Hao looked at the overall design drawing, thought silently, and understood what Chen Jiahe said.

The airship flying saucer uses pure electric propulsion. Simply put, it is an electric motor. The electric power drives the fan blades inside the electric motor to rotate and push the air to create thrust. To achieve higher thrust, it will be like an aerospace engine. A special air inlet is reserved, and the rotation of the fan blades is used to create high-pressure air, which is then discharged and rotated to create thrust.

The principle of the Hall thruster is too complicated.

The Hall thruster is a propulsion technology used in space, and it is naturally impossible to push air.

Hall thrusters usually use hydrogen, xenon, and argon as propellants, but these propellants do not generate power through combustion, but through the Hall effect. The propellant is struck by electrons and becomes an ion state.

After the ions are accelerated by the electric field, and then neutralize the ions in the plume, the ejected gas can ultimately be accelerated to more than 10 kilometers/second, and even as fast as 80 kilometers/second.

This technology needs to carry high-pressure propellant, which will occupy a certain space. If you want to achieve greater thrust, you will need to consume more propellant, and the space occupied will become larger.

At the same time, the Hall thruster also needs to be integrated with other parts of the anti-gravity spacecraft.

Just the power integration of propulsion power and anti-gravity and superconducting batteries is a very complicated task, because the transverse anti-gravity and superconducting batteries are integrated, while the Hall thruster is a separate device, and the separate device is combined with other It is not easy to integrate the devices together and coordinate the electronic control.

Wang Hao nodded thoughtfully. He continued to look at the overall design, and suddenly said in confusion, "Didn't you think of other solutions?"

"any solution?"

Academician Duan asked, "We have all thought about it. We just keep testing and modifying the design."

"Now I feel that the design is very complete, but due to the influence of the Hall thruster, a large amount of space must be left for the propulsion part, which will weaken the overall performance of the spacecraft, but there is no way."

He shook his head dejectedly.

Wang Hao twitched his lips. He felt that he should give the old academician face, but the other party's direct denial made people feel very depressed.

He simply said bluntly, "Just because you can't think of a solution doesn't mean there is no solution. Research is about using your brain, right?"

"right?"

"Research needs to be more flexible and not so rigid." He simply added, "We need to give young people more opportunities!"

This sentence obviously refers to the old academician.

Duan Jiachong also heard it, and he suddenly felt a little angry, but it was still difficult to say anything in front of Wang Hao.

He is indeed an old academician, but when it comes to his contribution to science and technology, his status, and his importance to the country, he is very different from Wang Hao.

Duan Jiachong still felt very angry, and he immediately said, "Academician Wang, please tell me what method you have, but I can't think of it anyway."

Wang Hao said calmly, "Academician Duan, I am not targeting you. Since you asked, I will tell you what I think."

"The main problem you encounter is the conflict between the Hall thruster and other parts, right? Including space conflicts, detection and electronic control will also become complicated and integration issues, right?"

"Have you ever thought about whether you can integrate the Hall thruster into the anti-gravity and superconducting battery system and make them a whole? Then the space required will be smaller, and detection and control will be easier."

Duan Jiachong wanted to speak again.

Chen Jiahe quickly interrupted and asked, "How can this be achieved? Of course we want to do this..."

"Coolant!"

Wang Haodao, "The coolant used in the cooling system and the propellant used in Hall propulsion are the same thing. Wouldn't the problem be solved?"

"Anti-gravity and superconducting batteries use the same cooling system. The coolant must be discharged after use. If the discharged coolant enters the Hall thruster for ionization and then discharges it to create thrust, wouldn't it be integrated together?"

Others were about to speak.

Wang Hao waved his hand and continued, "The coolant used in other systems is still liquid nitrogen. In fact, it can be completely replaced, such as liquid argon."

"Liquid nitrogen is certainly a better coolant, but argon can also serve as a propellant for a Hall thruster."

"The boiling point of liquid argon is around minus 195 degrees Celsius, which is enough to be used as a coolant."

"The superconducting materials used in transverse anti-gravity are now very good. The critical temperature of superconducting is as high as 198k, and liquid argon is also sufficient."

After Wang Hao finished speaking, Chen Jiahe, Duan Jiacong and others were stunned.

They didn't think about this problem at all.

From the beginning of the research to the present, they have not even considered changing the coolant, and are certain that liquid nitrogen must be used as the coolant. Of course, liquid nitrogen cannot be used as the propellant of the Hall thruster.

The two have nothing to do with each other.

Then the Hall thruster is a separate component, and a large space must be left for carrying propellant.

Now hearing what Wang Hao said, Chen Jiahe's eyes shone brightly, and he immediately reacted, "It's indeed possible!"

"In this way, the Hall thruster can be integrated with anti-gravity and superconducting. The coolant and propellant are the same, which greatly reduces the space requirements. The control is also integrated, and the detection and control will become easy..."

"To be honest, we didn't even dare to think about changing the coolant!"

Chen Jiahe shook his head excitedly, and his mood was very complicated.

What Wang Hao was talking about was not a high-tech problem, just replacing the coolant, but none of their research teams thought of it.

Mainly because I don’t dare to think about it!

Horizontal anti-gravity, superconducting batteries, how can such high-end technologies be modified?

"Isn't this just inflexible and rigid thinking?"

"I don't even dare to think about it..."

Duan Jiachong was silent.

He didn't know what to say. Wang Hao's idea was something they hadn't expected. It was very feasible and of great significance to research.

Considering what I just confirmed and Wang Hao's 'sarcasm'...

It’s so embarrassing!